The Wandering Shinobi Pirate
by 27Tsu18Kyou
Summary: Naruto was cursed with long life after the Fourth Great Shinobi War. He was saddened and alone, therefore, he left the Elemental Nations to live in stagnation. Can his new life as a pirate help soothe the ache in his heart? Papa!Naruto x Luffy, Ace, Sabo, Zoro, maybe even Sanji. Brother!Naruto x Dragon, Marco, Shanks, Mihawk (unwillingly).
1. Chapter 1

He was alone.

Everyone he knew has passed on and left behind their legacies.

He wasn't given that option.

He noticed that he wasn't aging like his friends and was told by the massive beings inside his seal that he had become immortal.

This pained him. He was afraid to love anyone because he knew they would die many years later.

And so, nearly a century has passed and one Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze decided that he would leave the Elemental Nations. Chakra was no longer used, or used sparingly, there because of the peace that reined over the land. The long-haired blond packed all he needs for his trip onto the boat and set out on the high seas.

 **7 Years Later**

Luffy had been dropped off at Dadan's Country by Garp some time ago, and he had managed to become brothers with Ace and Sabo after much trouble and promises.

Currently, the three boys were in the forest to hunt down an animal for food.

"I'm huuuunnngrrryyyy! Where's food?!" Luffy pouted as he dragged his feet behind him. Ace's eyebrow twitched and he scowled at the younger raven.

"Would you shut up, Luffy! Crying about it isn't going to make food appear any faster!" Luffy glared back at him.

"I'm not crying!"

"You are!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

Ace laughed when Luffy grew confused at being tricked. Sabo sighed though he also had a smile playing on his lips.

"Calm down, you two. We're definitely not going to get any meat with the two of you shouting." Sabo placated them. Ace and Luffy quickly shut up at that.

The three then walked in a semi-silence for a while before Ace began to get angry and frustrated at still not encountering any animals.

"What the hell is going on?! There are normally many animals in this forest, yet we can't seem to find any of them!" Ace exploded. Luffy whined out 'meeeaaat' as he collapsed on the ground with his stomach fiercely growling. Sabo was fairing no better and grasped at his stomach. He looked up with exhaustion.

"This is weird. Usually even the bigger animals would be out here to eat us, but they aren't even here." The blond deduced.

"Well, we gotta keep looking if we wanna eat. Get up, Luffy, we gotta go." Ace poked the youngest in the head with his pipe. Luffy sat up with a hand on his stomach.

"But ace... I'm too hungry to move..."

"How else are you going to eat if you don't get up to hunt?" Luffy gave him the teary puppy eyes with a trembling lip to go with it.

"Will you carry me?" He asked hopefully. Ace bristled.

"Hell no!"

"But Aaaacce!"

"Haha! Oh, come on, Ace. It's just a piggy back ride. It won't kill you." Sabo piped in amusingly. Ace turned to glare at him.

"Then you do it!"

"But you're the oldest."

Ace sputtered for a comeback before sighing.

"Alright, Luffy. Get on." Luffy cheered and scrambled onto his back. When he was comfortable, and with a huge happy smile, the three continued on their search.

As they got closer to the sea, they were all slumping and dragging their feet (except Luffy). When they broke through the forest's tree line, they felt...something. They couldn't tell what it was but whatever it is, it sent chills up their spines. Looking around, they spotted something bright by the ledge of the cliff.

They saw a man with long, spiky blond hair looking out over the sea. They couldn't tell much about him, but they could see that he wasn't wearing a shirt and had loose, baggy pants. He was sitting cross-legged and was supporting his head on one hand with his elbow resting on his knee.

The three stood to observe him for a few moments. The older two boys were broken from their muse when Luffy walked out from behind them.

"Luffy! Get back over here!" Ace shouted.

"You don't know who he is, Luffy! You could get hurt!" Sabo backed up the older raven. The two ran toward him. Luffy managed to clumsily dodge their attempts to grab him and ran closer to the unknown man.

Luffy stopped a few feet from the still man. He couldn't feel anything bad from the blond. Rather, there was something warm and natural about him that drew him to the tan man. Ace and Sabo stopped beside him and regarded the man wearily.

"Um... Mister? Are you okay?" Sabo tentatively asked. The boys started when the man let out a long relaxed sigh. Ace and Sabo got into defensive stances on front of Luffy.

"I'm okay," the man's soft baritone voice chimed. He turned towards them showing six whisker-like marks upon his cheeks and bright blue eyes. He responded again, "hello there, boys. What brings you here?"

Luffy grinned and answered for them.

"We're looking for food! But we haven't found any and I'm soooo hungry! Hey! Hey! Do you have any meat?!" Luffy rambled.

"Don't go telling our business, Luffy! We don't know what this man could do to us!" Ace hit Luffy over the head. Luffy clutched at the injured spot and poured with tears at the corner of his eyes.

"But Ace! He seems really nice!"

"You don't even know him!"

"So what! I'm hungry and I want to eat!"

Ace growled and was about to hit him again when Sabo pulled him away from the younger D.

"Clam down, Ace!"

"Let me go, Sabo! He's asking for it!"

"Hitting him won't accomplish anything!"

"It may just knock some sense into him!"

Luffy stuck out his tongue and pulled down his right eyelid. Ace was practically steaming now.

"Why you little—"

Laughter cut them out of their own little world. They turned back to the man to see him with a big smile on his face. For some reason, the three boys were all enraptured by the joyous sound.

When the older blond stopped, he had an amused look in his eyes along with a bit of wistfulness.

"You boys are so cute!"

"I am not CUTE!" Ace rebuked. The blond just chuckled. He straightened up and let a small smile play on his lips.

"If you're all hungry, I have food cooking over there," he pointed to a small home that was further along the cliff. The boys' jaws dropped when they saw who was cooking on an open fire.

It was the same man!

Sabo and Ace pointed shakily to the double.

"Wha-?! But-?! How-?! HUH?!"

Luffy grinned really big with stars in his eyes.

"COOOOOOL~! There's TWO of you!" Luffy gushed. The blond chuckled again.

"Yup! But that's only a clone. I can make many more of myself if I wanted to," he informed them.

"Really? Is that your Devil Fruit power?" Sabo asked. The man titled his head.

"I've heard of Devil Fruits but I haven't eaten one. This is something I learned from my homeland," he told them. The three looked at him in shock and awe. Ace then gave him a suspicious look.

"Your homeland, huh? Who are you, and what are you doing on Dawn Island?" Sabo shot the freckled boy a disapproving look before turning his attention back to the other blond since he was curious as well.

"My name is Naruto. Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto. I came here because it was one of the few islands that had a large forest that remind me of home. It also smells refreshing living by the sea," the now known Naruto told them. Luffy bounced up to him and tugged on his pants to get his attention.

"Ne, ne! You said you have meat, right," Naruto nodded, "then, let's go!" The raven grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the two story house. Naruto went along with it as Sabo and Ace trailed behined, still not too sure about this mysterious blond.

As they all made it to the house, Ace was still shooting glances at the older blond, Sabo relaxed a bit and asked the man some questions pertaining to if he fought any pirates or Marines or if he travelled, and Luffy made up a song as he swung his and Naruto's arm back and forth.

"MEEEAAAT!" Luffy cheered and sped off to the clone that held out a huge piece of meat and viciously tore into it. Ace and Sabo was salvating at the delicious smell. Naruto nudged them forward.

"Go ahead, you two. I don't think I could eat that huge seaking all by myself. Besides, if you don't get to it, the little one will finish it all for you." At this, the two dived in and ravaged the cooked seaking. Naruto chuckled when the three fought over a piece of meat. He quickly snatched his own portion and dispelled his clone in a smoke-less poof.

To Naruto, the scene of the three boy brought back nostalgic feelings that he mostly stowwed away within his memories. Seeing how close they are to one another despite fighting over food, reminded the blond that there is still love and bonds in many shapes and forms.

Maybe...being with and around these three will show him that it's okay to love and trust someone again. Afterall, the boys have already wormed their way into his heart.

And there's something about the freckled boy that seems familiar. Not just in how he looks, but he can feel a kind of kinship to hum. It's as if they share somethinf in common.

Eh. It'll come back to him soon. Meanwhile, he'll just enjoy the moment.


	2. Chapter 2

_Eh. It'll come back to him soon. Meanwhile, he'll just enjoy the moment._

* * *

 **After Lunch**

When all of them finished off their lunch, the three boys were left with large satisfied stomachs. They haven't ate food like that in what seems like forever. Sabo was leaning back against Ace as they relaxed and digested their meal. Luffy was lying on his back and patting his round tummy. Naruto was lying on his side with a leg propped up, a fist holding up his head and the other hand using a sharp piece of bone to pick out any trappee pieces of meat.

"Ahh~! That was some good meat!" Luffy sang. Sabo grinned and agreed with him. Ace had a small smirk on his lips. He wouldn't say it out loud, but that seaking was the best meat he'd had ever. He was still cautious of the blond man, but he won some points for letting them eat his food. In the mountains with the bandits, you had to fight for your share of meat or go to bed with meager scraps.

"I hope you all aren't done yet, because I have dessert cooling in the house. Would you like some?" Naruto offered. Luffy immediately sprung up.

"YEA!" The younger raven cheered. Sabo was right behind him with a hopeful look in his eyes. Ace tried to hide it, but he was also eager to have something sweet besides the fruit they eat every once in a while.

"Well, come on. I think you'll like strawberry cheesecake," Naruto beckoned them into the crème colored, two story house.

When the boys crossed the threshold, they were awed at the spaciousness inside. It looked small when they first saw the house, but now it seems as if they were in a whole new world.

"Well, make yourselves comfortable. I'll go get the cake." Naruto informed them as he made his way to the kitchen across from the living room. The ASL brothers sat on the three seat couch. Well, Sabo and Ace sat on the couch. Luffy was zipping back and forth looking at things. They saw that there were rolled and unrolled papers on the table in front of the couch, a bookshelf near the wide window, and a TV right in front of them. There were also pictures scattered around the room. It had a few to several people in them. Naruto were in most, and there also seemed to be a pink-haired girl and a dark-haired boy in some of them (the pink-haired more so than the black-haired).

"Woah~! Look at this, you guys!" Luffy drew their attention to where he was, which was in a cabinet beside the TV.

"Luffy, it's improper to go through people's things without their permission." Sabo reprimanded. Luffy pouted.

"But look, Sabo~! Ninja stars!" The little raven brought out a few shuriken to show to his older brother. Ace was beside him searching through the cabinet as well.

"There's some really interesting things here, Sabo. You should come take a look." Ace called over his shoulder. Sabo sighed at the fact that both his brothers were being ill-mannered, but proceeded to take a look at what all had gotten their attention.

"Woah! These are some amazing weapons! Look! There are even a huge spiked ball-n-chain!" Sabo exclaimed.

While the three were in their own world, Naruto came in to see them shifting through weapons that children their age shouldn't even be by.

"I see you all found something of interest," Naruto casually spoke up. The boys jumped at the sound of his voice and whipped their heads in his direction. Naruto was surprised they didn't get whiplash.

Sabo quickly scrambled to his feet with an embarrassed flush on his cheeks.

"S-sorry! We didn't mean to look through your stuff!" He apologized. He kicked Ace and Luffy to get them to also apologize. Ace merely 'tch'-ed and turned his head while Luffy giggled and apologized as well.

Naruto chuckled lowly, "There's no need to apologize. I don't mind much, but I would like you all to be careful with what you handle. I don't want you to get hurt."

Ace growled.

"Don't think that we are so weak that we need you to watch over us! We can take care of ourselves just fine!" Naruto sat on the ground in front of them.

"Calm down, Ace. I was not calling you weak by any means. I can tell that you and your brothers have had difficult lives and are dependent on each other. The pain that you have experienced has given you all growth that even some men do not have. That is an admirable trait. The fact that you all are using that pain to become strong and to overcome the hardships is amazing. Where some people wallow in their pain or turn their suffering unto someone else, you boys have learned to use it in a more productive way. That is true strength." Naruto explained. The boys all gazed up at him in awe and a bit confusion. The confusion was more on Luffy's part, but the 7-year-old got the gist of it.

"Now! Why don't we get some of that cake!" Naruto cheered with a clap of his hands. He softly pushed the three into the kitchen where a table was set up with four slices of cheesecake with whip cream and strawberries on top.

Luffy was the first one to taste the sweet and instantly beamed at the delicious taste.

"This is so goood~! Ace! Sabo! Hurry up and eat it! It's almost as good as meat!" Luffy exclaimed. The two boys dug into their slices as well and were in Heaven!

"Wow! This is really good, Naruto-san!" Sabo praised. Ace kept silent but he gave a complimentary nod to the blond man. Naruto smiled.

"I'm glad. You can have more if you'd like. I can tell you boys don't get to eat much sweet things. By the way, where do you all live?" Naruto responded as he took a bite out of his own slice.

"We live with Dadan. She's a mountain bandit. I don't like bandits, but Dadan is okay," Luffy supplied. Naruto raised an eyebrow at his answer before dismissing it as something the younger child will share when he wants to.

"Naruto-san? How did you find food? I noticed that the forest seems almost abandoned but you still had food," Sabo brought up with frosting smeared on the side of his lips. Naruto saw this and grabbed a napkin to wipe the younger blond's face. Sabo blushed in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry about that. You see, my friend is currently occupying the forest. His aura tends to scare away the animals when in a close proximity. He can be a bit a mean and destructive, but to me, he's just a big ol' fluff ball." Luffy giggled while Sabo made a face between amusement and exasperation at his description of his friend. Ace had a blank expression.

 **"Who're you calling 'fluff ball', brat?"** a booming voice growled from outside.


	3. Chapter 3

**"Who're you calling 'fluff ball', brat?"** a booming voice growled from outside. The three boys jumped and the two older ones instinctively surrounded the youngest and prepared to fight against whatever came their way. Naruto, meanwhile, grinned and calmly rose out of his chair. The three brothers watched him with guarded eyes but still followed him to the front door.

What they saw had their jaws dropping to the ground. It was a big ass fox!

"W-w-what the hell?!" Ace sputtered as he gazed up at the towering animal.

"It's bigger than Tiger Lord!" Sabo was doing a really good imitation of a fish right now.

"So cooooool~!" Luffy's eyes shined with awe and excitement.

Naruto chuckled at their reactions before addressing the giant, orange-red fox. "This is my best friend. Now, Kurama, be nice and greet our guests. It is, partly, your fault that they were nearly starved."

Said beast scoffed before visibly shrinking to the size of a medium sized cat... One with nine tails. Kurama jumped onto the blond man's shoulder and observed the three children whom were still gaping at the now chibi-fied fox.

 **"Yea, yea. Who're the kits?"** Kurama asked. Luffy immediately jumped forward with barely suppressed giddiness.

"Hi, Mr. Fox! My name's Luffy! These are my brothers Sabo and Ace! What's your name? How did you get smaller? Why do you have nine tails? Do you have-?"

 **"Okay! Quiet for a moment, tiny-kit,"** Kurama interrupted the rapid fire of questions. Luffy shut his mouth but still had a hopeful and questioning look. **"My name is Kurama, the Kyuubi no Yoko; you don't need to know; I was born with nine tails; and no, I do not have a Devil Fruit Power. Did I get everything?"** Luffy bobbed his head up and down as a huge grin broke out.

"Naruto-san? What exactly is Kurama-san?" Sabo asked. Curiosity won out over fear when he got to witness an animal talking fluently and patiently with his younger brother.

"Oh? Kurama is made up of what my people call chakra," Naruto answered. The boys simultaneously tilted their heads with, what Naruto could practically see, question marks above their heads.

"What's "chakra"? I have never heard of that before." Ace spoke up for all of them. Naruto beckoned them all into the main room of the house. They took a seat with Kurama jumping onto Naruto's lap where said man began petting him. The fox let out a pleased growl and curled into a "big ball of fluff". Naruto's lips quirked into a smile at that thought.

"Well, how can I put this. Chakra is the energy that is in every living thing on the planet. It is the mixture of spiritual and physical energy," Sabo raised his hand, "Yes, Sabo?"

"What is spiritual and physical energy?" Naruto froze and had a pensive look on his face.

"Hmm... Okay, think of it like this. Spiritual energy is like the mind. If you have a lot of knowledge and experience, you can increase your spiritual energy. Physical energy is like having a strong body. You have to be healthy and train your body to become more powerful." The man explained.

"Ne, ne! What about us? Can we use this 'chacha'?" Luffy bounced in his seat. Naruto gave an amused smile.

"It's 'chakra', Luffy. And you all do have rather strong presence of chakra, but I am not too sure you will be able to use it. Luffy, I do not think it will be possible for you at all to use chakra because of the Devil Fruit power you possess." Luffy wilted.

"Aww...! No fair!" The little raven pouted. Naruto reached down and lifted the boy's chin up.

"That's okay, Luffy. You may not be able to harness the full capabilities of chakra, but there are things that you could still do with it."

"Really? What?" The two older boys perked up at this. The older blond smirked and walked out the house with his little guests following. Kurama jumped onto Ace's head, surprising the boy, and watched with boredom as he knew what his partner was going to do.

Naruto stopped and turned to them, "Wait right here. This is one of the things that chakra will allow you all to do." He turned back toward the forest and walked calmly toward a tree. The boys thought he was going to stop, but he didn't and continued casually. The boys' jaws dropped to the ground when they saw the blond man walk up the tree as if he was still connected to the ground.

 _"WHAT?!"_ The bewilderment and shock on their faces was so hilarious that Naruto couldn't help but laugh aloud.

"This, kids, is one of the uses of chakra."

Their eyes twinkled and awe was on their faces and Naruto could see their bodies tensing up in built up excitement. At this point, Naruto can see that they are related even if not by blood.

"Teach us, teach us, please!" Luffy jumped up and down and ran over to the man still standing on the bottom of a branch. Sabo nodded alongside him and Ace had a giant smirk-grin at the thought of becoming stronger to protect his brothers.

Naruto cut the flow of chakra from his feet and flipped to land on the ground. He picked up Luffy into one of his arms and strode over to the big brothers. He placed a hand on top of Sabo's hat and smiled down at them.

"I'd be more than happy to."


	4. Chapter 4

**_Well, this didn't take as long as I thought. Thank you all for hanging in there with me! This chapter did not reach the 3K+ that I'd hoped, but it was the best that I could do when trying to piece back together the only thing I could remember._**

 ** _I hope you all enjoy and review! Helpful and cheerful comments are always welcome! Matane~!_**

* * *

 _"I'd be more than happy to."_

 **A Couple Weeks Later**

The boys were all laid out on the ground panting for breath. Sabo was on all fours with with his hat lying beside him, Ace was leaning back on his hands with his head tipped back, and Luffy was sprawled on his back with his hat beneath his head. Naruto walked over and gave them each a water bottle to which they drank greedily.

Training was going well for them. Sabo was able to unlock his chakra a day before Ace, which made him frustrated but he got over it after a while. Luffy was the last to unlock his and they were now all working on using their chakra to stick to the tree. It was pretty comical watching them attempt the tree climbing exercise, but he tried to keep his mirth hidden, especially from Ace, as to avoid making them lose concentration. He showed them how to hold and use kunai and shuriken when they asked and had them do the same thing he and his old team did when they first practiced the tree climbing exercise.

"You boys alright?" Naruto asked as he crouched down near Luffy. They all made some sound of agreement. The oldest blond chuckled and hoisted the youngest unto his shoulders where Luffy proceeded to snuggle his face into the soft yellow locks. Naruto then lifted the other two into his arms to walked into the house that was several yards away.

Naruto has added onto the house when the boys had come over so frequently and now the front room had more space for them to sleep in. But the youngest sometimes liked sleeping in Naruto's room, so they all would pick which room to sleep the night in.

"Hey, Naruto?" Sabo asked when said man brought them to the bathroom.

"Yea? What is it Sabo?" He inquired as he started the bath. Ace and Sabo were already stripping down, something that Naruto had to get used to when they did it the first few times they decided to stay at his house for the night.

"Do you plan to go back out to sea?" Naruto made a contemplating sound as he helped Luffy out of his clothes and sat the two hats onto the sink. The two older brothers hd already gotten into the tub with Ace turning off the faucet.

"I don't know. My friends are pretty much scattered all over the world and I only leave when one of them, namely Shukaku, causes some trouble. But I may decide to go back out to sea. I've been on this island for a little over 7 years and haven't checked on some of the friends I made over the years." He answered as he helped wash Sabo's hair as Ace did the same to Luffy. Ace had to sit the boy on his lap so that he doesn't slip and drown being nearly entirely submerged.

"Oh! I have an idea! Why don't you join my crew!" Luffy cheered with a splash. Ace sputtered when some of the water got into his mouth.

"Be still, Luffy! And why would Naruto want to be on your crew? If anything, you should be a part of _his_ crew!" Ace countered. Luffy pouted and crossed his arms.

"NO! He should be a part of my crew because we'll be the greatest crew to sail the seas and I'll be captain and we'll have lots of parties and adventures and there'll be lots of meat and-" The little raven rambled.

"Calm down, Luffy. I'd be more than happy to join your crew, but I wouldn't be joining until you AT LEAST get to the Grand Line. You should gain as much experience on your own and work to get stronger. That goes for you two as well. The seas aren't very nice when you get to the more stronger parts of them. So while you're young, train hard and have a crew that you can depend on. But have fun! I have a feeling that even the most boring days will have some sort of entertainment." The blond said before spraying the showerhead on Sabo to get the soap off and then did the same to Luffy. Said raven cheered when he heard that the older man would join his crew. Sabo and Ace exchanged bewildered looks.

After the boys were finished washing, Naruto gave them all towels and ushered them out the room to head to the bedroom where clean bed clothes were laid out by a clone. Naruto took his shower and met the three in the dining room.

"After dinner, how about I tell you about the time my team was sent to protect a princess who was an actress?" Naruto questioned as the clones placed the huge amount of food on the table.

"You actually saved a princess?" Ace asked as he shoved his mouth. The other two, mostly Sabo, was looking toward the blond with interest.

' _Good thing I thought to put self-cleaning seals on their cloths. These boys really can get messy.'_ The older blond thought as he wiped away the sauce that was dripping down Luffy's face.

"Yep! And let me tell you, dealing with her was not a walk in the park," mused Naruto. They all had a fulfilling dinner before they all went to brush their teeth.

"Mine or out here?" Naruto questioned.

"Your's!" They answered. Naruto climbed into his bed and waited for the boys to settle around him. Sabo was to his left and Luffy and Ace was on his right. He was leaning against the headboard and started his story.

"It all started when Team 7 got the mission to protect and escort an actress to the Land of Snow…"

The boys were enraptured and in awe about the things a 13-year-old could do. They cheered at his accomplishments and the close-calls and guffawed at his blunders. Naruto blushed but was glad to put such bright smiles on their faces.

By the time he was done with the story, they were relaxed and nearly asleep. Naruto shuffled the covers over them and snuggled in to join the boys in their slumber.

"Goodnight boys."

"G'night!"

"'Night."

"Goodnight… Dad."

Naruto's eyes widened at that and turned his attention to Sabo who was hiding his face under the covers. Ace and Luffy looked over at the lump that was their brother with confused looks.

"'Dad'? What'd you call him that for, Sabo?" Ace questioned the young noble. Sabo came back out with a blush on his cheeks and fidgeted with the cover.

"Well… I called him Dad because...it just seemed to fit. He's been so kind and he let us stay in his house even though we have our own hideout. It feels like… I finally have the father I wish I had. You two never got to find out what a Dad is really like and I don't either. But, when I think about how I would want my Dad to be like, I think of Naruto," he admitted then turned his attention to said stunned man, "You help us even when we don't ask for it. You don't care about money or fame. You don't force us to do things we don't want. And you care for those who barely have anything to own!" A flashback of watching Naruto give out boxes of food to the people who live in Gray Terminal went through his mind.

"I feel as if I've finally come to have a home with a father who actually cares for me and listens to what I have to say; who wants to hear about my hopes and dreams; who doesn't care that I want to live a life of crime, just as long as I have my freedom! I've learned so much from you and I want to keep learning from you! My brothers and I are growing stronger so we can be ready to battle the seas and become the most free we've ever been! That's why I called you Dad… Because you are my dad." Sabo said emotionally.

"Sabo…" Luffy murmured. Ace pursed his lips and stared down at the sheets covering his torso.

Naruto, on the other hand, had a tear sliding down his cheek. He never thought Sabo felt this way. Yes, he himself have had feelings he was unfamiliar with and the closest thing he could compare it to was when he watched Konohamaru and his friends accomplish something. Only it was much stronger with a hint of something else.

"Well, if Sabo says you're Dad, then you're Dad. That's all that matters!" Luffy agreed with his older brother. Naruto smiled warmly at the younger blond and ruffled his hair.

"Thank you, Sabo. I'd me more than happy to be your and your brothers' father." Sabo grinned before snuggling closer to the man with Luffy following his example.

When he made sure that the two were actually asleep, he looked over to the silent brunet beside Luffy.

"Ace?" He spoke.

"... What would you do if you knew Gol D. Roger had a child?" He questioned. Naruto stared at him for a moment as he thought. It was easy to tell that Ace was the child he was talking about and the insecurity about his relation to the infamous late-Pirate King.

"If I knew Roger had a child, I would think to myself that their life must have been a difficult one to know that they are the child to a man that not everyone has a good thought about. If I actually meet the child, I would let them know that it is not their fault for the way their life has been lived. Humans are fickle beings and can be ruled by their emotions and fear. I know firsthand the things people can do because of the things they do or do not know. They can throw words around without a concern as to how it might affect the one they're lashing out at, or even the ones who are connected to them," Naruto looked up at the ceiling solemnly.

"Roger was a man who lived the way he wanted and without regrets. He had a crew that loved him and were there for and with him - through thick and thin. And when he found out he was going to be a father, this huge, idiotic grin would sprout across his face. The only thing he was upset about was not being able to see his son or daughter born. But he accepted that it just wasn't meant to be. He only wanted what was best for the child.

"He once told me: 'No matter the path they choose, I just hope they follow their dreams to become the best they can be, and to be free!' That man cared about his friends and family to the ends of this world…" He put a hand on Ace's head and soothingly combed his fingers through dark brown locks. Ace peaked at him only to see a sad smile.

"Ace… No one is born in this world only to be alone. It will take time, and a lot of heartbreak may-no, WILL happen, but it'll be worth it. You'll have people who can depend on you; people who will love you and support you and protect you. After all, no child should have to suffer for the actions of their father." No truer was this for the two of them.

Naruto and Ace had a lot in common, including suffering in the aftermath of their father's actions. There was a lot of pain and feelings of loneliness, a want to be recognized for who they are and not the product of someone's life, and to be loved.

Naruto felt Ace tremble with silent sobs under his hand and could only offer his support. He knew the pain Ace was going through and promised himself he would be there for him. It hurts knowing what people think of you based on what someone else did. He could only hope that this broken-

' _No, not broken. Cracked.'_ He thought as he looked to the two sleeping younger boys. Ace wasn't broken, but his heart is cracked and is slowly being healed. All due to his brothers.

Ace was slowly calming down as he replayed all that Naruto said. He glanced up at the man to see he was looking at him with warmth in his eyes. He knew the man to be honest and could now rest knowing that at least one man - THIS man - didn't scorn or curse him for being the spawn of Gold Roger. With this thought in mind, he drifted off while snuggling into Luffy's back.

' _Thank you… Dad,'_

 **Later the Next Day**

"Who wants to go on a little adventure?"


End file.
